Sarah Davenport

District of New Mexico
	Tenth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 7
	Judges: 7
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: William P. Johnson
	Active judges: James O. Browning, Sarah Davenport, Matthew Garcia, Kenneth John Gonzales, David Herrera Urias, Kea Riggs, Margaret Strickland; Senior judges:; Christina Armijo, Robert Brack, Curtis Hansen, Judith Herrera, William P. Johnson, Martha Vazquez

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Sarah Davenport
	Court: United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
Progress
	Confirmed 87 days after nomination.
	Nominated: September 9, 2024
	ABA Rating: Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: September 25, 2024
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: November 21, 2024
	Confirmed: December 5, 2024
	Vote: 52-45

Sarah Davenport is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on September 9, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 5, 2024, by a vote of 52-45.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Davenport was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico in Las Cruces, New Mexico.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (2025-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On September 9, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Davenport to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.^[4] Davenport received commission on January 13, 2025.^[1] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Davenport by a vote of 52-45 on December 5, 2024.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Davenport confirmation vote (December 5, 2024)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	0	0
Republican	2	45	2
Independent	3	0	1
Total	52^[5]	45	3

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Davenport's nomination on September 25, 2024. Davenport was reported to the full Senate on November 21, 2024, after an 11-10 committee vote.^[6] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.

Nomination

On August 28, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Davenport to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. The president officially nominated Davenport on September 9, 2024.

Davenport was nominated to replace Judge William P. Johnson, who will assume senior status on January 24, 2025.^[7]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Davenport qualified.^[8] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Davenport was born in 1976 in Hobbs, New Mexico. She earned a bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University in 1998 and a law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2006.^[1]

Career

2025-present: Judge, United States District Court for the District of New Mexico
2009-2024: Assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Mexico
- 2022-2024: supervisory assistant U.S. attorney
2008-2009: Special assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Mexico
2006-2008: Unit law clerk, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico^[1]

About the court

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of courtrooms in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, and Roswell, N.M. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit based in downtown Denver, Colorado at the Byron White Federal Courthouse.

The District of New Mexico has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The jurisdiction of the District of New Mexico consists of all the counties in the state of New Mexico.

Court is held in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Roswell, Santa Fe and Silver City.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.